Author, editor and Licensed Battlefield Guide, Diana Loski, will speak to the Lancaster Civil War Round Table about the life and military career of Confederate General William Dorsey Pender at 7:00pm on Thursday, October 9th.

William Dorsey Pender was one of the youngest, and most promising, generals fighting for the Confederacy in the American Civil War. Pender commanded a division of the 3rd Corps under A.P. Hill at Gettysburg where he received shrapnel in his leg. His leg was amputated but he died on July 18, 1863.

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Author Jay Jorgensen wrote an excellent tour guide of the fighting at the Wheatfield in Gettysburg a few years ago. He reviewed my most recent book for Civil War News, andI am flattered by his kind words.

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Dover's venerable Salem Church was the scene of a small skirmish in June 1863 during the Gettysburg Campaign.

York County had a major cavalry battle at Hanover, as well as a skirmish at Wrightsville that easily could have been a more significant fight had the opposing commanders made other decisions. There were dozens of smaller engagements, often no more than a few cavalry scouts shooting at each other such as in the case of the 17th Virginia's brief exchange of potshots with the First City Troop west of York on June 27.

Here is a brief account of a short firefight on the ridges west of Dover on July 1.

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The commonwealth of Pennsylvania has erected a new wayside marker in Weiglestown on State Route 74 between Shiloh and Dover. It marks the spot where Confederate Major General Jubal A. Early turned off the Davidsburg Road and began his movement into York, as well as where he dispatched the 17th Virginia Cavalry under his antebellum friend Col. William H. French on a mission to destroy two railroad bridges at York Haven.

For a closer view of the text, please click on the link.

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The Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Civil War Round Table is, once again, pleased to welcome historian and actor Patrick Falci to our Thursday, September 18, 2008 program., which will be held at 7:00 PM at the Lititz Public Library on Thursday, September 18th. Lancaster Civil War Round Table is free and open to the public. Anyone with an interest in the Civil War is welcome!

Come out and enjoy an evening with Patrick Falci! Registration for this free event is suggested by emailing your name, phone number and number attending to srihn@lititzlibrary.org or call the library at 626-2255. For more information, contact Micky Kraft at 392-4976, email lancastercivilwarroundtable@gmail.com.

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Confederate cavalry from North Carolina and Virginia charged up Frederick Street in downtown Hanover, Pennsylvania, during the beginning phases of a cavalry engagement on June 30, 1863.

I am back from a business trip to historic Baden Baden, Germany, which was a madhouse of activity because of the annual horse racing series (picture being in Louisville during Kentucky Derby week and you get the idea of crowds, bands, great meals at restaurants, and other social events). I now return my attention to York County in the American Civil War and present a first person account of the Battle of Hanover.

George William Beale was an old man in 1918, but he wanted to share his reminiscences of his Civil War service through a book he wrote entitled A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army. His memory was sharp and detailed of his years of service as a young lieutenant in the 9th Virginia Cavalry under J.E.B. Stuart. He picks up his narrative on June 30, 1863, following the Battle of Westminster in northern Maryland...

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I am fortunate to have several Civil War veterans in my lineage, including my great-great-grandfathers William Sisson of Dover, Ohio, who fought in the 51st Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and John Fauley of Fultonham, Ohio, who fought in the 5th U.S. Regulars. My great-uncles, the Chambers boys, fought in the 7th West Virginia on East Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg and participated in the famed charge on the Sunken Road at Antietam.

Another great-uncle, Aaron Barnhill, was in the 141st Ohio, a National Guard regiment that served for 100 days in the summer of 1864 when the U.S. War Department enrolled tens of thousands of men for temporary duty for an all-out push to win the war. These "Hundred Days Men" in the 141st served on garrison duty at Charleston, West Virginia, allowing the release of veteran troops to man the front lines.

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Author Scott Mingus signs copies of his latest book at a store in Gettysburg

The August meeting of the York CWRT will feature Scott Mingus as the guest speaker, telling true tales and Human Interest Stories from the Gettysburg Campaign - many of which are taken from the manuscript for Volume 3 of this series, which is being compiled currently.

The meeting will be in the auditorium of the York County Heritage Trust at 250 East Market Street in York, Pennsylvania at 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening, August 20. There will be a PowerPoint slide show in conjunction with the talk.

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Tucked in a pleasant little valley not far from Spring Grove, this house was the home in 1863 of the Rev. Samuel L. Roth, a prominent area minister whose church was not far from his abode.

Background post: Confederate camp site - Jacob S. Altland House.

As an attorney, Civil War general, railroad executive, coal mine owner, U.S. Senator, and Governor of Georgia (as well as an early organizer of the KKK in Georgia by some accounts), John Brown Gordon met thousands of people during his busy lifetime. The vast majority were forgettable - common folks who elicited no special mention or recognition, consigned to be just another hand shaken by a veteran politician, or another nameless private saluting his commander.

However, a handful of York Countians received special recognition from Gordon in the years after the war during his popular speaking tours and his oft-quoted and somewhat controversial memoirs. And then there were his memorable encounters with Samuel Roth, a Jackson Township preacher whose persistence and never-give-up attitude stayed long in the memory of the Confederate general.

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An engraving of Richard S. Ewell before his hairline significantly receded.

By the early summer of 1863, the name Richard Stoddard Ewell was well known within North America. The balding and somewhat eccentric Ewell had received considerable press as a brigadier general for his service during the Peninsular Campaign, and had survived a bad wound at the Battle of Groveton that cost him a leg. Promoted to command of a corps in the Army of Northern Virginia in May 1863, his men had won a smashing and decisive victory only a few weeks later at the Second Battle of Winchester. By late June, Ewell was approaching Harrisburg with two-thirds of his force, while a division under Jubal Early threatened York.

York was a place quite familiar to "Old Baldy," for he had visited the town before the war, and an older brother, Benjamin, had moved to York in the late 1830s to accept a position as assistant engineer of the Baltimore & Susquehanna Railroad. The former West Point professor had subsequently married a York woman.

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Rebels wearily slog through the rain during their retreat following the Battle of Gettysburg.

York Countians could breathe a sigh of relief after the Rebels departed. While there had indeed been considerable damage to the railroads and telegraph lines, as well as thousands of horses and mules seized, the damage was rather light compared with Franklin and Adams counties, and part of Cumberland. A reporter from the Lancaster Daily Herald trailed the two armies after they crossed the Mason-Dixon Line, and he left a graphic account of the destruction he witnessed in the southern part of Franklin County. He wrote from Greencastle on July 8, 1863,...

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Cover art from a 1991 book, The Story of the Northern Central Railway, by Robert L. Gunnarsson, Greenberg Publications.

All over York County, from the outskirts of Abbottstown to the west across the turnpike to Wrightsville and from Hanover to the southwest up to Dillsburg (and dozens of other towns and hundreds of farms), residents took stock of their losses. For some, the damage was relatively light - as low as a single horse. For others, their livelihoods had been destroyed (for example, a large milling operation in Wrightsville that had burned down, displacing the workers). In the next few days, I will outline some of the damage in York County (and perhaps beyond) caused by the Confederates.

I thank York County railroad buff, author, and historian Ivan E. Frantz, Jr. (and a colleague of mine at work) for sharing the following very interesting information he has gleaned from the files of the Northern Central Railway, one of the hardest hit companies.

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Jeb Stuart's three brigades of veteran Confederate cavalry rose in fields surrounding Dover and leisurely ate their breakfasts. Foraging patrols scoured neighboring farms for several miles looking for horses, mules, forage, horsehoes, and other supplies of military interest. They paid for them with worthless CSA currency or bank drafts to be paid by the Confederacy after the war ended. Scores of Union prisoners captured in Maryland or at the Battle of Hanover are paroled, released, and sent walking back down today's Route 74 to York. By early afternoon, Stuart's men are back in the saddle, as multiple columns wind their way through northwestern York County through Wellsville, Rossville, and Dillsburg, where the brigade of wealthy South Carolina planter and politician Wade Hampton III will camp for the night on the Mumper fruit farm.

Meanwhile, in the rest of the county...

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James E. B. Brown, CSA Major General, led three brigades of veteran cavalry through southwestern York County after a half-day battle at Hanover.

At dawn, Confederate troops stir in their various camps, enjoy a final breakfast in York County, and prepare to resume their marching. Young Isaac Avery led his brigade out of downtown York, as the Tar Heels gustily sang "We'll Plant Our Colors on a Northern Hill," a popular ditty of the day. They picked up the Louisiana Tigers and Smith's Virginia brigade, and, trailing French's cavalry, marched toward Davidsburg.

In the meantime...

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Representative Civil War troops on the march, in this case, New York volunteers. Courtesy of Corbis.com.

Failing to find a way across the Susquehanna River with the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge now a smoldering wreckage, Brig. Gen. John B. Gordon retraces his steps and marches back to York. Cavalry under Elijah V. White burn a few more railroad bridges and terrorize farmers in the Hellam region, stealing or buying (with worthless CSA money) as many horses as they can find. Gordon's infantry march westward through York in the late afternoon and camp out near the Carlisle Road (today's Route 74).

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One of John Gordon's Georgians left a brief anecdote from his passage through York. This has not appeared in print since the 19th Century, I believe, when it was in a newspaper. Here is Private G. F. Agee's account...

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Sunday dawned bright and early on June 28. Most townspeople in York went about their daily routines, including dressing nicely for worship, strolling the sidewalks, and visiting friends and relatives. While church was in progress at St. Paul's Lutheran, the vanguard of the Confederate division of Jubal Early marched into York, preceded by the pioneer corps and advance pickets from the 31st Georgia. Rebels hauled down the large flag in the Center Square, as well as a smaller one from a nearby shop. York was now under Confederate control. The lead brigade, the Georgians of John Gordon, moved on to Wrightsville, while Jubal Early ringed York with artillery and established a series of camps.

Posted in Civil War people Civilians Confederates Dillsburg Emigsville Gettysburg Campaign Hanover Wrightsville Yankees York York Haven

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Maj. Gen. Jubal Early's veteran Confederate division, one of the hardest fighting units in the Army of Northern Virginia, departs from camps near Mummasburg, Gettysburg, and Hunterstown and heads eastward toward the prize they had been ordered by Richard S. Ewell to capture - the prosperous town of York. Early's main column - 3/4 of his artillery, all but one company of the 17th Virginia Cavalry, and the brigades of Ike Avery and Extra Billy Smith trudged from Mummasburg toward Hunterstown, picking up the Louisiana Tigers en route. John Gordon's Georgians left the Wolf farm just east of Gettysburg and marched out the turnpike (today's U.S. 30). It would be a leisurely march for these two columns this day, one that would end at Big Mount and Farmers, respectively.

It was the third column that would create the military excitement on this day - White's Comanches which had terrorized much of northern Maryland and had earned a reputation for lightning raids on Union supply lines. Now, their war whoops would be heard in southwestern York County...

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Robert E. Lee,
General Orders, No. 73

Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
June 27, 1863

The commanding general has observed with marked satisfaction the conduct of the troops on the march, and confidently anticipates results commensurate with the high spirit they have manifested.

No troops could have displayed greater fortitude or better performed the arduous marches of the past ten days.

Their conduct in other respects has with few exceptions been in keeping with their character as soldiers, and entitles them to approbation and praise.

There have however been instances of forgetfulness on the part of some, that they have in keeping the yet unsullied reputation of the army, and that the duties expected of us by civilization and Christianity are not less obligatory in the country of the enemy than in our own.

The commanding general considers that no greater disgrace could befall the army, and through it our whole people, than the perpetration of the barbarous outrages upon the unarmed, and defenceless [sic] and the wanton destruction of private property that have marked the course of the enemy in our own country.

Such proceedings not only degrade the perpetrators and all connected with them, but are subversive of the discipline and efficiency of the army, and destructive of the ends of our present movement.

It must be remembered that we make war only upon armed men, and that we cannot take vengeance for the wrongs our people have suffered without lowering ourselves in the eyes of all whose abhorrence has been excited by the atrocities of our enemies, and offending against Him to whom vengeance belongeth, without whose favor and support our efforts must all prove in vain.

The commanding general therefore earnestly exhorts the troops to abstain with most scrupulous care from unnecessary or wanton injury to private property, and he enjoins upon all officers to arrest and bring to summary punishment all who shall in any way offend against the orders on this subject.

R. E. Lee
General

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SOURCE: Clifford Dowdey, editor, The Wartime Papers of R. E. Lee (New York: Bramhall House, 1961), pages 533-534.

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Last night at York's Patriot Days celebration panel discussion at the York County Heritage Trust, four authors with York ties along with author and newspapermen Jim McClure briefly discussed whether York should have surrendered to Maj. Gen. Jubal Anderson Early of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. There was no military reason to defend York, and the army did what it felt was prudent tactically to withdraw to the Susquehanna River, which they had been ordered to defend. The key issue was the controversial decision of York's leaders to seek out the Rebels and negotiate for the safety of the town, as act some Yorkers of that day felt was treasonous, while others strongly believed it saved the town from destruction.

One important point brought up by the panelists was that Jubal Early would likely have been court-martialled had he wantonly torched a Northern town against Robert E. Lee's orders. Targets of military value such as warehouses, railroads, bridges, telegraphs, etc. were allowable, but private property was not to be touched. Lee has issued very stern (for him) orders regarding his men's behavior, and it is incomprehensible to me that a major general, one of Lee's personal acquaintances and most trusted fighters, would have taken such a daring risk. True, Early had burned Congressman Thaddeus Stevens' Caledonia Iron Works, but Early had rationalized that this was fair game in retaliation for Stevens' open encouragment of the destruction of property in the South.

Here is the text of Lee's General Orders #72, which governed the behavior of his troops while in Pennsylvania. Read them, and you decide if Jubal Early would have been in trouble had he burned down York...

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An 1861 woodcut of the Confederate Stars and Bars fluttering over the Marshall House hotel in Alexandria, Virginia. Two years later, a later version of the Confederate banner floated in the breeze over York, Pennsylvania, the largest town in the North to be occupied by the Rebels during the Civil War.

This Wednesday night, June 25, the York County Heritage Trust and the York Civil War Roundtable will co-host a Civil War panel discussion on the occupation of York during the Gettysburg Campaign. As part of the city-sponsored Patriot Days, this event has been evolving for several months, but has now been finalized. A panel of four speakers will join moderator Jim McClure of the York Daily Record to present a series of brief talks on various aspects of the town, its people and buildings, its defenders, and its uninvited guests from Dixie.

The panel discussion is free of charge, and will be at YCHT's auditorium at 250 E. Market Street in downtown York at 7:00 p.m.. Parking is also free. This presentation deals with a very interesting and controversial subject, one that elicits numerous opinions.

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An early war etching of some of "Jeb" Stuart's Virginia cavaliers. From Harper's Weekly.

Add Jefferson area merchant Conrad Myers to the long list of York County merchants who felt the sting of the Confederate raiding parties during the Gettysburg Campaign. Stuart's cavaliers paused to rob more than a dozen shopkeepers from Jefferson to Dillsburg over a 24-hour period. Throw in those merchants in York, Wrightsville, and other locales visited by the cavalry and infantry of Jubal Early, and it was a bad week for several families who relied on the weekly income from these stores for their livelihoods.

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Tucked away near Seven Valleys in southern York County, Pennsylvania, is the tiny hamlet of Hanover Junction. Now mostly known to locals as an important rest stop and parking lot on the York Rail Trail, the old train station has been in existance for more than 150 years. It has been altered, renovated, added onto, and subtracted from during its long history. Restored to approximate its 1863 appearance, today the station houses restrooms for the bike riders and hikers, as well as a small museum that is usually manned by volunteer guides during summer weekends.

If you have never visited this site before, it is well worth a couple of hours some Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Few casual visitors realize that a minor Civil War skirmish occurred at the station on June 27, 1863, when Lt. Colonel Elijah V. White's 35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, raided Hanover Junction and drove off its Union defenders, elements of the 20th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia.

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For those of you readers interested in Civil war reenactments, there will be one near Hanover on July 3 of this year. Here is an entry from this month's copy of Civil War News by Deborah Fitts.

Come out and support this extremely worthy cause!!

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Well known Pennsylvania author J. David Petruzzi visited the York CWRT this past Wednesday night and presented one of the most interesting overviews of J.E.B. Stuart's mid-1863 ride around Hooker / Meade's army that I have recently heard. I had helped a little with the original research and data collection for his fine book, Plenty of Blame to Go Around: J.E.B. Stuart's Controversial Ride to Gettysburg, but I found a lot more information since its publication, so I decided to write a magazine article on the specific portion of Stuart's ride between the end of the Battle of Hanover and the shelling of Carlisle - that is, the ride from the outskirts of Hanover to Dillsburg through western York County.

That article appeared in the January 2008 issue of The Gettysburg Magazine and is a companion piece to the article I wrote for the July 2007 issue regarding "Jubal Early Takes York." Both issues are widely available from Gettysburg booksellers and gift shops, or can be obtained over the Internet directly from the publisher.

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The subject of a talk on May 21, 2008, by noted author J. David Petruzzi -- famed Confederate cavalry general James E. B. "Jeb" Stuart, who was killed less than a year after his controversial ride around the Union army.

As a prelude to J. David Petruzzi's presentation Wednesday night at the monthly meeting of the York Civil War Round Table (7:00 p.m., York County Heritage Trust, 250 East Market Street, York; FREE admission!!!), I offer a couple of anecdotes from famed Confederate cavalier J.E.B. Stuart's torturous ride through western York County, which included a late night trek from the Battle of Hanover northward to Dover.

Of the nearly 10,000 Confederates that traversed York County in late June 1863, Stuart's troopers developed a reputation (well deserved) as the most significant horse thieves in the Rebel army. There are more than 900 damage claims filed after the war by farmers and residents of the county, and at least 600 of these deal directly with the theft of horses or mules by Stuart's passing column. It's hard to imagine how much they may have taken had they been allowed the luxury of staying and resting a few days, like their cavalry counterparts under William H. French and Elijah V. White, who accompanied Jubal A. Early's column into York and did their own fair share of horse trading.

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A Civil War-era lavish dinner at a well-to-do household. Most southern Pennsylvanians did not enjoy such luxury, but their dinner spreads were often equally impressive. Confederates often marveled at the "vast oceans" of food that some were fortunate enough to have partaken during the invasion of Pennsylvania. Harper's Weekly.

Many of you know I am fascinated by the human interest side of the Civil War, having written three books (with a fourth one in the works now) on that aspect of the war. In particular, I enjoy studying the psychology of the interactions between the Confederate soldiers and the Pennsylvania civilians during the Gettysburg Campaign. There is a wealth of great material in the soldiers' old diaries, letters, and similar reminiscences.

Here's one interesting anecote of a group of Rebel artillerymen from Virginia as they intercoursed with a pair of Franklin County families. Note how the milk was served, and also the custom of dressing up for company. Also note that the head of the household does not eat with the rest of the family...

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Pennsylvania author J. David Petruzzi is the featured guest speaker for the May meeting of the York CWRT.

From June 30 through the wee morning hours of July 2, elements of J.E.B. Stuart's vaunted, but road-weary and exhausted Confederate cavalry column trudged through western York County. They fought a pitched battle at Hanover, as well as a couple of very minor rear guard skirmishes near Jefferson and Dover. Stuart did not arrive on the Gettysburg battlefield until late on July 2, having fought yet again at Hunterstown.

Historians for 145 years have argued the merits of Stuart's controversial ride around the Union army, one that put him out of touch with the main force of the Army of Northern Virginia for part of the campaign. Some critics blame Stuart for leaving Lee blind while in enemy country; others argue that the move made military sense and circumstances beyond Stuart's (and Lee's) control contributed to the delayed reunion with the infantry.

Brockway, PA author J. D. Petruzzi will present a FREE talk at the York County Civil War Round Table on Wednesday, May 21, at 7:00 p.m. at the York County Heritage Trust at 250 East Market Street in downtown York. This promises to be of strong interest to anyone interested in exploring the Civil War history of this region, and a chance to see and hear one of America's leading cavalry experts deliver his personal opinion on Stuart's ride.

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When not on campaign, Civil War troops (particularly the Federals) had semi-permanent camps with tents and log structures. While on the road, they made do without these luxuries. For the Rebels on the march to Pennsylvania, the camp was usually a piece of grass, an old blanket, and the starry sky. (Library of Congress)

Recently I posted a message and photograph of the John Wiest house / tavern in Spring Grove, which was used as a Confederate camp site during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign. Some of you have inquired as to the locations of other CSA camps and headquarters during the Confederate invasion, so I will begin a series of occasional articles on the topic. First, some basic information to help set the table for this new series...

Posted in Confederate camp sites Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Other places Spring Grove Wrightsville York

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For you Cannonball readers that may not be aware, there are some excellent on-line resources available from The Guilder Lehrman Institute of American History. The organization is sponsoring a temporary exhibit at the new Gettysburg Visitors Center at Gettysburg National Military Park, displaying several dozen "Letters from the War" in their gallery. Many are poignant and illuminating, shedding some light on the lifestyles of the average Civil War soldier.

Complete text of those letters can be found on-line at their website, which also features complete transcripts of many other epistles. Website visitors may listen to several audio versions of selected stories and other documents from the Battle of Gettysburg and other ACW events and campaigns. Also, they make available webcasts and podcasts from a number of leading contemporary ACW historians, professors, and lecturers.

The site is interesting and well worth bookmarking for future repeated visits.

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The new book is available from Borders in York and at leading retailers in Gettysburg. It's also for sale at Internet retailers such as amazon.com and target.com.

Here is an anecdote from my recent Human Interest Stories of the Gettysburg Campaign, Volume 2, which was published by Colecraft Industries of Ortanna, PA. This is just one of more than two hundred such true stories from Gettysburg. You will not find any ghosts of Gettysburg or other such tales in this book, but rather stories as related directly by the participants themselves about their experiences. Nothing supernatural, just extraordinary in many cases.

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I was invited to speak to the 7th and 8th grade students at York Catholic's annual Civil War Reenactment Weekend, which has been a staple for more than a decade and a half. Students study history in a very creative way - becoming Civil War reenactors for a weekend. Trained and taught by living historians and adult reenactors (some of whom are school teachers themselves from other districts), the students are immersed for two days into a small glimpse of what military life in the 1860s may have been like. It's a very effective teaching method, one that surely brings more interest than the average lecture from a teacher reciting boring dates, people, and events. Bringing history to life in this creative fashion most certainly is a better way to educate, and I commend the good folks at York Catholic for supporting and sustaining this methodology for so long.

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As the spring of 1863 began, the last thing many York Countians expected was that the Civil War would roll northward into this lush agrarian region. The war was down in Virginia, and in places way out west where names like Murfreesboro had been in the news over the winter. Yet, as April and May rolled into June, little did the locals dream that they would soon play host to two separate major Confederate incursions within a three-day period, as well as smaller raids.

Heidelberg Township merchant George Zain was among the dozens of merchants and shopkeepers who were visited by Confederate troops.

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A 1911 newspaper offered a lengthy account of the occupation of York by parts of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. York would be the largest town in the North to be occupied by the Confederates.

M. L. Van Barman was just a kid in 1863 when Jubal Early and his powerful division of battle-tested veteran soldiers occupied York following a decision by civic officials to peacefully cooperate with the oncoming Confederates rather than try to resist. It was a decision that was not immediately challenged openly, but one that sparked considerable second-guessing and questioning in the following decades. Chief Burgess David Small would be at the center of this firestorm of controversy. Young businessman A. B. Farquhar would have an audience with Abraham Lincoln in which the president would teasingly introduce Farquhar to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton as the chap who surrendered York.

In 1911, as we conclude Van Barman's narrative of Early's Raid, he offers his retrospective and opinion on the actions of town leaders 48 years before. Many of the leading participants, both Pennsylvanian and Confederate, were by now dead, but the arguments continued as to whether or not York made the right call in "surrendering."

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1909 postcard showing the Codorus Creek and the modernized flour mill once owned by the prosperous firm of P.A. & S. Small. Reports on June 29, 1863, reached businessman Samuel Small, Jr. that the infamous Louisiana Tigers were destroying the operations and gumming up the mill race and equipment by dumping flour into the water.

How far would you go in wartime to protect your own private property, or that of your neighbors and friends? During Early's Raid in 1863, local residents reacted in a mixture of ways that reflects the diversity of human emotions and personalities. Many Yorkers packed what they could and fled eastward to Lancaster County. Some of these refugees drove flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, horses, and other livestock and animals across the toll bridge over the Susquahanna to presumed safety.Other people hid their valuables and horses (and sometimes themselves as well) in woods, hollows, barns, and other hiding places in an attempt to escape detection from roving patrols of Confederate foragers.

A few bold residents confronted the Rebels and refused to allow them to steal property or livestock. Several men even insisted on personal audiences with leading Confederate generals, including Jubal Early, to ensure the safety of their property and possessions. M. L. Van Barman relates one such story.

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A typical old swimming hole from the 1930s

When I was a kid, our southeastern Ohio village was uniquely blessed with a very popular regional tourist attraction known as Lake Isabella. A sprawling complex of former limestone quarries, the Columbia Cement Company spent huge amounts of cash to dam a nearby creeek and convert the former quarries into a horseshoe-shaped lake, with shelter houses, a dance hall, recreational facililties, basketball and tennis courts, shuffleboard, boat docks, a marina, and best of all, a very nice swimming area replete with a diving board, a high dive tower, and a distant metal raft to rest upon after distance swims. It was a fantasy, as we lived on the bluff overlooking the lake, and I spent my youthful summers at the complex.

We also had an old-fashioned watering hole at the nearby Jonathan Creek, where some people would go skinny-dipping, an act obviously forbidden at the Lake Isabella beach. Somebody fixed up a rope and old tire, and swinging out over the hole and jumping in became popular.

Somewhat similar to my hometown of East Fultonham, York in 1863 had its own two water attractions, as we will see from the latest entry from M. L. Van Barman's 1911 recollection of the Gettysburg Campaign and Jubal Early's Raid.

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Civil War messages were conveyed by telegraph where the service was available, but most often were delivered in person by mounted couriers. A messenger sent from Carlisle by Richard Ewell rode through northern York County down to York to find Major General Jubal Early and give him updated orders, cutting short his raid.

Confederate general Jubal Early had planned to seize the long covered bridge over the Susquehanna River at Wrightsville, march his veteran division into Lancaster County, and threaten Harrisburg from the rear. This was in contrast to his original orders to destroy the bridge and then march to Dillsburg to link up with the rest of Richard Ewell's corps. However, in the early evening of June 28, 1863, "Old Jube's" plans were thwarted by the state militia's burning of the bridge. High water prevented any possibility of simply fording the rain-swollen river.

As we pick up York resident M. L. Van Barman's narrative, it is late afternoon on Monday, June 29. John Gordon's brigade is marching back to York, having passed through Hallam after leaving Wrightsville and the smoldering bridge. The Lousiana Tigers and Extra Billy Smith's brigades are camped between Loucks Road and Emigsville, along with artillery on the heights along the Codorus Creek. Ike Avery's North Carolinans patrol downtown York, and more cannons frowning from Webb's Hill south of town. Jubal Early has threatened to burn certasin railroad buildings if York does not fully comply with a ransom he has levied on the town, and he is meeting with York authorities. A few railcars and small shops are already on fire.

However, events in Maryland will now change forever the course of the Gettysburg Campaign, even as Early argues with one of the railroad officials...

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York's old county courthouse served as the temporary headquarters for the Confederate army division that occupied York in June 1863.

In several previous posts, we have looked at the Confederate invasion of York through the eyes of resident M. L. Van Barman, in an account not fully republished since 1911. Backgrounds posts: Introduction, Jubal Early arrives in Gettysburg, The Rebels Approach York, Farquhar Steps Up, York "Surrenders" at Farmers.

My wife and I enjoy popping a DVD into the player and watching movies together, a joy we indulge in a couple of times a week. We recently watched Denzel Washington's interesting movie Man on Fire, in which he plays a downtrodden bodyguard assigned to protect a little girl in Mexico from political kidnappers. He initially fails, and she is taken and held for ransom. Eventually, as with many Hollywood flicks, she is released and the movie has a happy ending. Unfortunately, ransom money has been around almost as long as humanity, The paying of tribute money was a common practice in the ancient Middle East, where an invading army might be dissuaded from sacking a village or town through the payment of crops, slaves, gold, or other valuables. That practice was still intact during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign.

Here is Van Barman's account of Jubal Early's ransom of York...

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Robert E. Lee remains one of the most revered figures in U.S. history, particularly in the South where his birthday remains a holiday in certain places. While Lee never set foot in York, some of his subordinate officers later claimed he planned to fight the decisive battle of the summer campaign here, concentrating his army in and around York. Indeed, he was on his way to York when plans changed late on June 28, 1863, and he instead assembled his forces to the west to meet an unexpected Union threat.

Complete and up-to-date schedule for the meetings of the York Civil War Round Table

Old Granny. The King of Spades. Bobby Lee. Marse Robert. The succession of Robert E. Lee's nicknames traces his progression in the Civil War from a relatively old former U.S. Cavalry officer to the man in charge of digging earthworks to protect such out-of-the-way places as Honey Hill, South Carolina, then to the beloved leader of the Army of Northern Virginia, and finally to one of the most legendary figures in American military history. Shrouded in myth and legend, viewed by many through rose-colored glasses, and idolized by scores of followers who waged a campaign during Reconstruction to cement his place in history, Robert E. Lee has come down to today's generation as a symbol of the Confederacy and the "Lost Cause."

Come to the York County Heritage Trust this Wednesday evening, April 16, at 7:00 p.m. to hear a long-time scholar of the Lee family, Ken Miller, present a talk on "The Personal Side of Robert E. Lee." Admission is free, as is parking. YCHT is at 250 E. Market Street in York, just a few blocks east of Centre Square. This is one of a continuing series of talks presented by the York CWRT in cooperation with YCHT.

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Confederate troops from Georgia haul down York's huge flag in this Lewis Miller sketch, courtest of YCHT. York became the largest town in the North to be occupied by the Confederates. It was one of more than fifty such towns and villages in Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to see Rebels marching through the streets during the summer of 1863.

In several previous posts, we have looked at the Confederate invasion of York through the eyes of resident M. L. Van Barman, in an account not fully republished since 1911. Backgrounds posts: Introduction, Jubal Early arrives in Gettysburg, The Rebels Approach York, Farquhar Steps Up, York "Surrenders" at Farmers.

I cannot imagine what it would be like for an enemy army to march through the streets of your hometown, and then to physically occupy it. Millions of people throughout history have experienced such events, sometimes with horribly tragic results. Some time ago, I studied the Roman occupation of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, one of the more brutal occupations. York would be spared any significant damage, and women and children would not be molested as terms of an agreement offered to York's delegation by John B. Gordon at Farmers, PA. In this case, the opposing army would enter town peacefully and no civilians would be injured or killed, unlike some places in Indiana and Ohio visited a few weeks later by Rebel raiders under John Hunt Morgan.

Here is the continuation of M. L. Van Barman's eyewitness account of Jubal Early's raid...

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I love listening to Civil War music - both period pieces, as well as contemporary works. I listen to my CDs and tapes at home while painting miniature Civil War figurines or building and finishing model terrain for my Civil War miniature wargaming hobby. I also like to pop a disk into my CD player while I cruise around the Antietam and Gettysburg battlefields.

My favorite group (by far) is the 2nd South Carolina String Band, and my favorite single artist is Bobby Horton. Recently, I received for review a copy of a new contemporary collection of songs that is simply outstanding -- a collection that grows on me every time I listen. With vestiges of country, folk music, the blues, and a little rock thrown in, Al Grund's Two Soldiers is simply pure entertainment, while at times stirring up some interesting social questions.

Have a look at my review of this new CD on my wargaming blog, Charge!

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Photo of the house at Farmers, PA where York's four-man delegation met the night of June 27, 1863, with Confederate General Gordon to negotiate York's immediate future. This picture ran in a local York newspaper on the 100th anniversary of the event. Background post - Jim McClure's entry on the farmhouse.

M. L. Barman was an eyewitness to the Confederate invasion of York. His 1911 newspaper account is comprehensive and offers a broad overview of the occupation from a civilian perspective. In the last installment, he recounted the uncertainty among York's leaders as the Rebels approached, and the impulsiveness of young industrialist A. B. Farquhar, who dashed westward in his buggy to meet with the Confederates, without waiting for authorization. Now, as we pick up the story, Farquhar is heading out the turnpike (Route 30) again, only this time with the mayor, a former army colonel, and another leading citizen to legalize the terms offered to Farquhar by Confederate General John Brown Gordon earlier in the day just outside of Abbottstown...

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With the Confederates threatening in late June 1863, York's civic officials and other leading citizens took action. Among them was Arthur Briggs Farquhar, a young man not yet 25, who owned a fledgling agricultural implement company in York. Impetuous and full of energy, Farquhar had ridden down into Maryland in September 1862 to meet an old classmate, Confederate general Fitzhugh Lee. Farquhar, a Marylander by birth, before the war had attended school in Virginia with Lee. They discussed ways to ensure that Farquhar's business would be spared should the Rebels invade Pennsylvania and enter York. Luckily, that threat had not materialized.

Now, nearly a year later, as the Rebel vanguard marched eastward from Gettysburg along today's Route 30, the impulsive Farquhar again trusted his instincts that he could again intervene.

Here is the latest installment of York resident M.L. Van Barman's article that first appeared in the Gettysburg Compiler nearly a century ago.

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The old Gettysburg Compiler continues with considerable detail on Early's occupation of Gettysburg and some information on the march to York County... we now pick up the narrative as it deals with a York resident's brief description of the chaos on the roads leading through the borough as hundreds of refugees rushed eastward to escape the oncoming Rebels.

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Background post - Introduction to the Compiler article

In my last post, I introduced an article from an old issue of the Gettysburg Compiler that revisited the 1863 raid of Jubal Early through Gettysburg into York County, Pa. Here is the second installment from this old news article, reprinting in 1911 the original words of the editor when first published in the days immediately after the raid (and before the Battle of Gettysburg)...

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Over the next week or so, I will present the text of an old article that appeared in a now-defunct newspaper, the Gettysburg Compiler, regarding the Confederate occupation of York. A significant portion of the account is from a York resident who was interviewed just days after the raid by a correspondent. His description is a nice summary of the key events as Jubal Early took possession of York. The last week of June 1863 was a trying time for most Pennsylvanians, many of whom simply wanted to be left alone. Few had expected the Civil War to come to their doorsteps.

We start with an early 20th Century reporter's summation of the newspaper's 1863 status, especially with an enemy army openly operating in the general region and more troops perhaps on the way... Here is the opening paragraph from the June 28, 1911, Gettysburg Compiler.

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One of the trends in tradebook publishing in the past two decades has been the strong growth of historical fiction, particularly those books aimed at women. Combining plots that strongly emphasis character development and personal interrelationships with believable historical situations and settings, these books generally sell very well and appeal to a broad audience. Some, like Cold Mountain, have become best sellers that have cut across across wide genre of readers.

The most recent addition to this segment of the book industry comes from a Gettysburg author, Jessica James. Shades of Gray: A Novel of the Civil War in Virginia (ISBN 978-0-9796000-0-5, softback, 524 pages) is a worthy addition to the line up. Published by Patriot Press, the novel concerns the growing relationship between a Virginian who is a ardent secessionist and Confederate advocate. The lead female character, by contrast, is a devoted Unionist. The interplay of their divergent beliefs, coupled with the backdrop of the growing war, is well written and sustaining. Crisp, well flowing, and with a storyline that holds your attention, James shows off her talents as a novelist, as well as revealing a solid understanding of the Civil War era.

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During the Civil War era, by far the largest number of foreign-born soldiers on both sides came from Germany or Ireland, although dozens of countries were represented in the ranks, including a fair number of Scandinavians. Irishmen were prominent in both armies, and there were many tiomes in the war that all-Irish Union regiments battled Gaelic troops in gray.

An estimated 185,000 Irish-born soldiers fought in the Civil War, with the majority on the Federal side (145,000). Georgia and Louisiana had significant Irish units, and one almost all-Irish Confederate regiment camped in York.

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As the Civil War entered its second year (1862), few York residents had ever seen a Confederate soldier. Plenty of Union soldiers had paraded through the town between Camp Scott and the railroad station, and plenty of troop trains heading south the front lines had passed through York. But, by the end of summer 1862, new Rebel soldiers had appeared in York's streets. That would change during the Maryland Campaign.

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To many Confederates, Pennsylvania was a "land flowing with milk and honey, " a place one amazed Rebel thought flowed with "such oceans of bread as I had ever seen before." Food was plentiful, the farms fertile, orchards overflowing with fruit, and the climate fair. Hundreds of men straggled or deserted during the Gettysburg Campaign, and a few evaded capture and stayed in the area. Some came back to PA after the war and settled down, and several Pennsylvania cemeteries contain the remains of former Confederates who became Keystoners. Descendants of Rebels still live in multiple communities, including a few here in York County.

Other Rebels headed to Canada, and some headed west to start a new life (often under an assumed name).

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The Lancaster Civil War Round Table will welcome Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Wayne Wachsmuth to the Lititz Public Library (651 Kissel Hill Road in Lititz) at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 13, 2008, as he presents "Stuart's Ride: Mission Impossible? A Logistical Appraisal".

This program is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended by emailing your name, phone number and number attending to srihn@lititzlibrary.org or call the library at 717-626-2255. Come on out and enjoy an evening with Wayne Wachsmuth!

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James Ashworth was born in 1836 in the town of Bury in Lancashire, a rural county in northwest England along the Atlantic coast / Irish Sea. He emigrated with his parents to the U.S., and the family settled near Holmesburg, northeast of Philadelphia. He moved to Frankford, graduated from Philadelphia High School, and entered the transoceanic shipping business, working for a firm that operated cargo packets to Liverpool, England.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Ashworth accompanied General Robert Patterson's force down to Maryland as a civilian volunteer. He took up a musket and fought a Rebel raiding party that was attempting to wreck the C+O Canal near Williamsport, but was arrested by the citizens the next day as a rebel spy and put on trial.

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Background posts: Introduction, Part 2, The Rebels and the U.S. Post Office, Part 3, Part 4.

Here is the next letter, which may have all been written by the same man, likely a member of a Maryland cavalry company who hustled northward with a companion to rejoin his outfit near York. Failing to find it, he camped with the 17th Virginia Cavalry:

June 29, 1863 York, Pa:

After a long and roundabout wild goose chase, we arrived here about eight o'clock last night, and found Jackson's foot cavalry in full possession of the town... The notorious rebels are under the command of General Early. They are in high spirits, well dressed, and all they want is to fight...

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This Confederate 2-cent stamp was issued in 1863, the same year as the Gettysburg Campaign.

Background posts: Introduction, Part 2, The Rebels and the U.S. Post Office, Part 3.

The first couple of letters in this series were rather impersonal, sticking to the basic military facts. This one is a little more personal. The writer could never have known his family would never receive the letter, and that, instead, Yankees would be the first people to read the note. It would later be published in a popular periodical for all to read, and 145 years later, in something called the Internet.

Hundreds of men rejoined the CSA army on the road after being released from parole (as prisoners of war) or from medical facilities; the roads north were filled with small parties of men who struggled to find their regiments. Some did not rejoin until after Gettysburg and the army was heading back to the South.

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Trivia: Jefferson Davis was the first living president depicted on an American postage stamp.

Background posts: Introduction, Part 2, The Rebels and the U.S. Post Office.

The Confederate Post Office was established in February 1861, and in early March, John H. Reagan, a firebrand Texan, was named as the Confederacy's first (and only) Postmaster General. For the first few months of the war, regular mail between the North and South continued using private express delivery companies, before finally being suspended on June 1. A few outfits continued to smuggle mail for some time thereafter, although formal mail service between the warring states could only be done via a formal flag of truce.

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Background post: Introduction.

During the Gettysburg Campaign, more than 10,000 individual Confederate soldiers and troopers passed through York County, roughly half infantry and half cavalry as a general breakdown. They were from a variety of states, from South Carolina (the cradle of Secession) to one of the last states to secede, Virginia. Among these soldiers was the division of Jubal Early, which occupied York from June 28 - June 30. Infantrymen from North Carolina and Virginia artillerymen were stationed downtown at the Fair Grounds and/or Penn Commons, with Louisianans lounging in the creekside area west of today's Harley-Davidson factory and on the hills just west of the Codorus. Virginians were in Emigsville, Frystown, and East York, along with a company of Maryland cavaliers. More Virginia artillery crowned the imposing Webb's Hill south of town. Georgians camped at first near Wrightsville, and then along the Carlisle Pike in western York.

Scores of men took the welcome break to write home; many of these letters have been preserved. As mentioned in the introductory post, a packet of letters never made it back to Dixie and was captured near Hanover. Here are excerpts from one of these lost letters, perhaps from a cavalryman who accompanied Gordon's column to the river....

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During the Confederate occupation of York, a number of soldiers took the opportunity to write letters home to their families and/or sweethearts. A few of these letters survive, and I include portions of them in my two manuscripts on York in the Gettysburg Campaign (One book will at long last be in print later this year!).

Some letters may have been dropped off at the local post office for later mailing, but most were sent through the regular Confederate army mail system, which usually involved a courier on horseback riding back through the enemy-held countryside to friendly territory to post the mail. Sometimes these couriers never made it.

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J. W. Greathead was a merchant in the Fulton County town of McConnellsburg. With his father, the 29-year-old co-owned a thriving general merchandise store, which had been cleaned out during a Confederate raid in the fall of 1862. Undaunted, the two men had restocked their inventory and resumed operations. During the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, Confederate troops occupied McConnellsburg on several occasions. On June 29, Rebel cavalry chased off a company of the First New York Lincoln Cavalry and entered town. Fearful that the shop would be raided again, John Greathead asked an officer to post guards at the door to prevent looting. The Rebel assigned three men to the post, ordering them to "see that this man and his property are not molested."

After a while, a thankful Greathead sat down on the doorstep with one of the guards and began talking. The borough of York was among the topics of the friendly conversation.

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Some of you have recently asked me about the progress of my latest manuscripts. Here is a brief update on my writing activities.

1. Human Interest Stories from the Gettysburg Campaign, Volume 3 is about halfway finished. There is no timetable for completing this, as Colecraft Industries and I have published three of these human interest books in the past 2 years, and it's time to slow down to allow the market to catch up. The formal introduction of Volume 2 will be this spring, with the same sales channels as the first two books.

2. Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1862 is finally ready for printing. The next step will be to receive the galley proofs, approve them, and then it's off to the printing press. This book is being published by Ironclad Publishing and is Volume 5 in their Discovering Civil War America series. I cover Gordon's brigade from Virginia to the burning of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge, and then on to Gettysburg a second time.

3. A Spirit of Daring: The Louisiana Tigers in the Gettysburg Campaign has been completed and just now sent off to the publisher. This should be in print by 2010. I have a lot of material on the Tigers' brief stay in York County, much of it rarely or never before published.

4. Brothers Divided is my latest full-color wargaming scenario book, chock full of great photos of some of the best Civil War dioramas and wargaming table layouts. Volume 1 of this new series will be published late in 2008 by Marek/Janci Design of Chicago.

Work is just beginning on my latest project - a regimental history of the 51st Ohio.

Also, watch for Roll Call to Destiny, a new book by Brent Nosworthy. I helped research and write the Seven Pines / Fair Oaks chapter.

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In a recent post entitled "A Quaker in Gray," I related how one Confederate soldier from North Carolina was appalled at the massive waste of supplies and food during the brief occupation of York from June 28-30, 1863. The greediness and gluttony clashed with his Quaker upbringing, as he had been taught to be a good steward of what he had received.

Another of Jubal Early's men also commented on the massive amount of supplies that were left behind when the division marched off toward Gettysburg on the morning of June 30.

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My wife and I used watch a half-hour TV program entitled 8 Simple Rules for Dating my Daughter. It starred the late actor John Ritter, the son of famous country and western singer Tex Ritter, and the show was a source of entertainment and escape. While I normally detest sitcoms, this was one of the rare ones I would sit through, unlike Ritter's earlier horrible Three's Company, which I could not stand. Not long before Ritter's death at age 54, I finally came to appreciate his talents. John Ritter had a famous lineage, as well as fame and fortune.

For one ordinary 19th Century York County namesake, the Gettysburg Campaign took away a little of his fortune, but made the name John Ritter a part of local Civil War history.

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Typical interior of a small country store

Boredom. Routine. Monotony... By June 1863, the Army of Northern Virginia had spent more than half a year relatively idle in its camps since the Battle of Fredericksburg, with the exception of the flurry of activity in May at Chancellorsville. As the soldiers headed northward for the summer campaign, they passed through dozens of small towns in Virginia, with most of the businesses barren from the hardships of the war. When the troops got to Pennsylvania, soldiers marveled at the well-stocked stores and shops, and there are scores, if not hundreds, of surviving letters and diaries that discuss individual Confederates' shopping sprees.

York County was no exception. While the soldiers were often gleeful at the rare chance to leisurely shop for whatever goods they needed, the local merchants were not at all happy about the situation.

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Background posts: A Quaker in Gray, York Fairgrounds during the Civil War

Isaac Erwin Avery was the 34-year-old colonel of the 6th North Carolina State Troops during the Gettysburg Campaign. With the wounding of Brigadier General Robert F. Hoke at Chancellorville in May, Avery had assumed temporary command of the North Carolina Brigade in Major General Jubal Early's veteran division. He and his men camped in downtown York on Sunday, June 28, 1863, split between the U.S. Army Hospital on Penn Common, the York Farigrounds, and the market houses in Center Square. Unknown to Colonel Avery, it would be his last Sunday on earth, for the bachelor would be mortally wounded on Thursday, July 2 in an attack on Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg. Two of his brothers would also perish in the war, an additional tragedy for his anguished parents, who had seen 6 of their 16 children die in infancy or childhood.

For the most part, Avery's men adored him. Private John J. English of Company E of the 6th NCST wrote a letter to his aunt and uncle on July 9 during the Confederate army's retreat. In it, the young Confederate infantryman honored his fallen colonel, as well as commenting on the women of Pennsylvania that he had met, including presumably the ladies of York.

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Issue # 38 of The Gettysburg Magazine is now on sale. Published twice a year, the advertisement-free magazine always features several very good articles on the Gettysburg Campaign. Publisher / owner Andy Turner was kind enough to publish an article in the July issue that I wrote concerning Jubal Early's division and its occupancy of York in June 1863. My new article in the January issue is about J.E.B. Stuart's ridge through western York County, focused on his brief stay in Dover.

Here is the table of contents for Issue #38, which is sold at various bookshops in Gettysburg.

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George Fox, an early leader in the Religious Society of Friends (the Quakers)

During the Gettysburg Campaign, several hundred York Countians were victimized by Confederate raiders, losing such diverse dry goods as buffalo robes, women's bonnets, and hairpins, as well as liquor, crops, livestock, mules, supplies, and most of all, horses. Often, these acquisitions were accompanied by a legitimate military requisition, backed with CSA currency or government promissory notes (or in gold or greenbacks if the recipient was lucky). However, in far too many other cases, marauders, deserters, and thugs simply took what they wanted. At least one Confederate soldier was appalled by the wanton thievery he witnessed.

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Lt. Gen. Richard Stoddard Ewell, CSA

Several Confederate soldiers in the Gettysburg Campaign had family or personal ties to this region. It was not uncommon in the mid-19th century for people to move around quite a bit, despite the lengthy transportation requirements of the day. As a result, they often knew folks in other towns, and letter writing became an art form. York was typical – several citizens had extensively traveled through Maryland and Virginia; many had attended school with people from the South; and some had antebellum military connections with the Rebels.

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In a recent post, I mentioned the cryptic comments from Confederate records in the Louisiana State Archives that a soldier from that state was "supposed to have been killed by the citizens of Penn." In scanning through old CSA letters, diaries, journals, etc. from men in the Gettysburg Campaign, I have found dozens of accounts of Keystoners hiding in out-of-the-way places to take potshots at passing columns of troops, and one account of two Rebel stragglers being apprehended by McConnellsville residents and murdered.

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The Louisiana Tigers left the Willoughby Run / Oak Hill area northwest of Gettysburg on June 27, 1863, and marched through East Berlin into western York County, finally camping late that afternoon near Big Mount. The roads were "exceedingly muddy," and scores of men straggled in the slop and mire. A few never rejoined the ranks, taking the opportunity to slip away and desert. An old book has a cryptic entry for Private Charles Brown of the 8th Louisiana, who was "supposed to have been killed by the citizens of Penn[sylvania]."

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I spent much of yesterday at the new Gettysburg Research Room of the Adams County Historical Society, which has digitized much of its collection, as well as the files of the Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guides. The reading room is not yet finished and certainly lacks amenities (the Lutheran Seminary is more than a century and a half old and wasn't built with the 21st Century researcher in mind), but the ease of use is incredible. Keyword searches make browsing through massive amounts of files a breeze.

Here's a relatively fresh account of a visit to York by officers of the Charlottesville Artillery.